It's all matzah to me (a 3 part prelude to Pesach)

For the last 5 or 6 parashot, we were flooded with information. Everything is described in minute details. Everything is elaborated upon. It seems as if the Israelites have so much free time on their hands that they can devote endless amounts of it to painstakingly following instructions. The key word, of course, is 'free'. It is exactly because they are free that they can devote as much time to their religious practices as they wish to. What a relief to be allowed such freedom at last. What a joy it must have been. No wonder Pesach is called the holiday of freedom. My kids say that if they ever achieve such level of freedom, the first rule they will practice in their own households will be the rule of "Eat dessert first." Smart mouths.  

My friend Marcie said "At the Seder, you know the food is good when it doesn't taste like Pesach food."

What in the world does that mean? "Pesach food" is one thing, and only one thing: Matzoh. The rules for food on Pesach, as explained in the Torah are as follows:    
1. No chametz. 2. Matzoh.

That's it.

The trouble starts when our totally unreasonable, spoiled and demanding families insist on eating other things, as well. They want meat (no problem), fish (ditto), chicken (easy), eggs (coming right up), fruits and veggies (At least I have heard rumors of one family, possibly even a real one, where the kids actually like fruits and veggies) and dessert ("or at least plenty of candy", says my husband's niece, Elisheva).

All of the above is not too bad. Most of it can be cooked using almost exactly the same recipes as everyday dishes. It's when we get to the side dishes that we run into a problem. Namely, we don't really know many starchy side dishes that are not pasta or rice, or involve some sort of wheat product. And we don't want to have yet another potato dish.

Enter the 11th plague: Matzoh meal.

Now, don't get me wrong. I have nothing against Matzoh meal. I use it and even like some of the dishes made with it. But let's be honest here. No matter how well you manage to disguise it, the matzoh flavor still comes through loud and clear. Not to mention the effect on your digestive system. And, by the way, don’t think you’re off the hook if your kitchen is “Sephardi Style”. Rice isn’t all that gentle on your stomach, either.

To my mind, the real problem is one of perception: we look so long and hard at what we cannot eat on Pesach that we don't see everything that we can eat.

There is no rule that says that the starchy side dish must be pasta, rice or potatoes (or that you even have to have a starchy side dish at all). Once you get rid of this preconceived notion, the rest of the menu will just fall into place easily and naturally.

So, what can we eat that will not taste like matzoh with matzoh?

Let’s have dessert first (Great cheer from the kids). 

After the fish, the soup, the brisket, the chicken (for those who don't like brisket), the chopped liver (because we must have chopped liver, no?), the many side dishes (most of them containing heavy matzoh meal, because, well, veggies are nice, but aunt Fanya's Pesach will not be complete without the Pesach kugel and she is getting on in years and we love her so much we want to please her), not to mention all the things we ate before the meal (the matzoh, charosset, marror, wine, potatoes, eggs, whatever your family's minhag is) - well, after all that, does anyone really have room for a heavy dessert? Sure, we want dessert, but can you honestly say that what you want is a pale copy of something that you know could have tasted better if only you could have used real flour? Something so laden with eggs and nuts that it will sit in your stomach until Shavu'ot?

Dessert doesn't have to make your guests groan. And it doesn't have to take hours of work. Invest in excellent ingredients: the best dark chocolate you can find, the most beautiful fruit in the market (and don't make the mistake I made - do not buy berries 4 days ahead of time and expect them to look good. Send someone to the store erev Pesach to get the freshest fruit they can find), as many varieties of nuts as you can find (again, good quality is important - it's worth a trip to a specialty store), new and exciting types of dried fruit (not those coated with sugar, though). 

Make simple fruit platters or fruit salad (excellent way to keep the kids busy erev chag),

serve small, elegant dark chocolate pieces, 

 

a bowl of mixed wonderful nuts, 

some dried fruit (you can dip them in chocolate if you want). 

Forget fake dairy, fake flour and extra eggs (didn't we have enough eggs in the meal itself?). Keep it simple, light, elegant. 

Serve mint tea to aid in digestion. 

Your guests will be so happy they might even stay awake for the second half of the Seder.

                                             

       




     

Oops

One of the greatest things about G-d is that He always gives people second chances. You see, G-d realizes that everyone messes up sometimes. Nobody's perfect. Why, even the Almighty Himself did some things He had later regretted. And so, being so great and all, He had arranged a way for people to come back ("Teshuva") from their mistakes and misdeeds, to repent, to make amends, to say "I know I did something wrong and I'm sorry".

This week's parasha lists all kinds of sacrifices. A simple, every day sacrifice. A thanksgiving sacrifice. A "I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by" sacrifice. And an "oops, my bad" sacrifice.  There is even a sacrifice for those who sinned intentionally but now regret it and want to repent. So you see, there is always a way back and it is fully mapped out. No need to wallow in our mistakes forever.

And while some sins are very big and difficult to make up for, some mistakes are relatively easy to correct. And they're all called "Chet". Which means "missed". As in "you missed the mark when you shot that arrow". I always feel so warm and safe when I think of this. It's as if G-d is always assuming that we all mean well. We all aim to be good.  It's just that sometimes we miss the mark. It's nice that He thinks so well of us, isn't it?

I once bought a box of instant oatmeal. Why, I cannot say. It was on sale and it sounded like a good idea at the time. Then I came home and tried it and it was awful. How much sugar can one possibly put into such a tiny package of oatmeal? Oy.

Anyway, there I was, with 7 more packages to go and no way to eat them or return them. What could I say? "It's too sweet"?. I needed to find a way to fix my mistake.

I did some research, changed a few ingredients, experimented a little and voila! Oatmeal quick bread that my kids devour every morning for breakfast. I won't call it the healthiest breakfast, but it is way better than sugar coated cereal or some of the "pastries" kids like so much, that are equal parts high fructose corn syrup and preservatives.

(Note before we start: This is for 3 loaves. If you cut it in half, you will get 1 super large loaf which will overflow the pan. And you can't cut it in thirds. So I make 3 loaves and they freeze nicely in Ziploc bags and I thaw them overnight in the fridge and everyone's happy).

Instant Oatmeal Quick Bread

4 packages instant oatmeal*

2 cups flour (white or wholewheat)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup apple sauce*

1 cup oil (or melted shortening)

1 cup milk (soy milk is fine if you want to use it)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup chocolate chips*

1. Pre-Heat oven to 350F.

2. Mix together first 4 ingredients.

3. In a separate bowl mix next 5 ingredients.

4. Combine wet ingredients with dry ones. Mix only until all dry ingredients are wet.

5. Add chocolate chips.

6. Divide between 3 oiled bread loaf pans.

7. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.

8. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Then on racks until completely cooled.

* So far we tried 2 versions:

A. Using Banana Bread Instant oatmeal, apple sauce and chocolate chips.

B. Using Apple Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal, pumpkin puree and dried cranberries (my kids don't like raisins).

All other ingredients stay the same.

Both versions were wonderful. Just use the amounts in the original recipe and change the ingredients to your liking. If you have any questions, you know where to find me....

Hiddur Mitzvah

Do you like mitzvot? I mean, sure, you do mitzvot. Whatever your level of religious observance, you do mitzvot. Some mitzvot are hard for everyone (who really wants to give away their hard earned money?), some are hard for some people and easy for others (some people are so nice they enjoy helping others, others would rather have root canal than work in a soup kitchen) and some mitzvot are fun for everyone (Purim comes to mind). But do you like mitzvot? Are you looking forward to performing them and try to find ways to do them better? To show the world, yourself, G-d, just how much you like doing mitzvot?

Judaism, which has an answer for everything, has a concept called "Hiddur Mitzvah". It means taking a mitzvah, say "Dwelling in a Succah" and fulfilling it in such a wonderful way that you and everyone around you can't wait for it, enjoy it to the max and want to do it again (kind of like chocolate, isn't it?). In the case of the Succah, you decorate it to within an inch of its life and then hold as many parties in it as you can squeeze into one week. If you ever tried it that way, you know what I'm talking about and your kids love you.

This week's parasha (really 2 parashot combined) opens with what is probably the most important mitzvah in Judaism: Shabbat. The parasha then goes on to describe how the Israelite set about buliding the Mishkan and its tools and the clothes for the priests and everything else that was detailed in the few previous parashot. We discussed it already. Everything was to be made of gold, silver, rich clothes, best materials, best everything.

So fine, these were the instructions, you say. It's not as if they were told to use wood and used silver. They were told to use gold so they used gold. Where's the Hiddur Mitzvah? 

Ah.

In Exodus 36:3-7, we read how the Israelite brought so much stuff for the Mishkan's work that the builders asked Moshe to tell everyone to stop bringing things. There was too much. in Exodus 35:25-26 there is a description of women weaving exquisite cloths for the Mishkan. When we read this week's parasha, the description of the materials donated for the Mishkan, the description of the hard work all the artists had put into it and the final description of what it looked like is so opulent, so rich and glowing that one is almost blinded just by the reading. The Israelite made the Mishkan as beautiful as they possibly could, they loved it so much.

We no longer have a Mishkan (I think we sort of lost the right to it somewhere along the way), but the Shabbat had guarded us for many generations. And we guard it. However, says this week's parasha, 'doing' is all good and well, but what about 'loving'? How do we show how much we love the mitzvah of Shabbat? 

By using the best table linen and dishes for Shabbat meal. By wearing our nicest clothes on Shabbat. By setting aside the best of everything: food, clothes, activities, whatever, and dedicating them to be used only on Shabbat.

And, in my family, by having dessert. And making it pretty, too. Preferably golden.

             Golden Shabbat cake

 FOR CAKE

1 cup sugar
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange rind

Combine ingredients in order given. Butter and flour a round 9 inch cake pan, tapping out excess flour. 

Pour cake batter into prepared pan. 

Bake in a preheated 350°F oven until cake tests done in center (about 45-50 minutes).

FOR SYRUP

1 cup orange juice

2 tbsp sugar

While the cake is baking, make the syrup by bringing orange juice and sugar gently to a boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Simmer for 3 minutes.

When the cake is ready, put it on a rack and place rack on a large platter or tray (to catch drips).

Using a skewer, pierce holes in the cake while it is still warm and pour the syrup over it.
Spoon the syrup over the cake until it is all soaked up.

Let cake cool completely.

Spice girl

I try to do everything contrary to people's expectations. This week's parasha contains one of the most famous stories in the bible. The story of the Golden Calf. Well, I am not going to discuss this story. What good is it to do the usual, the regular, the expected thing? Be unique in everything, I say.

The story of the Golden Calf (trust me, I am not going to discuss it) is so overpowering that sometimes we tend to forget that there are other things in this parasha. It is about these 'other' things that I want to talk today. 

At the beginning of this week's parasha (Exodus 30:17), G-d discusses with Moshe some methods of washing (very appropriate topic for the time before Pesach, don't you think) and then continues on to talk about a mixture of spices and herbs that is to be used during the worship at the altar. 

How many spices and herbs are in your kitchen right now? Get up from the computer and go check. I'll wait.

Most people have 6 or 7. Salt and pepper are a given. Garlic powder? Paprika? Cinnamon? A few dried herbs? Nutmeg? what else? How many types of salt do you have? How many kinds of paprika? what about pepper? do you have just plain ground black? And what about the following: Turmeric, cumin, coriander, ginger, mustard powder, chili powder, whole chili peppers, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme (OK, Simon and Garfunkel moment here), sesame seeds, saffron, cardamon, bay leaf, basil, cloves, tarragon. No? Really? 

My spice cabinet is the second largest cabinet in my kitchen (the pots have a larger one, but not by much). The above is a partial list of its contents. I did not list the liquids (various vinegars and oils, soy sauce, pomegranate molasses, vanilla, etc.) or the herbs we grow and dry ourselves, or the different varieties of each spice (because there are different uses for cinnamon as a powder, as a stick or freshly ground directly into the pot). 

My friends always exclaim over my cooking being so flavorful. It's only because I have so many spices and am therefore obliged (not to mention able) to use them all the time. My family is usually quite blase about Imma's  spiced up food but sometimes I manage to blow them away. I recently used so many different spices in one dish that the pot I made for the vegetarians was devoured by the carnivores along with the steaks. Mind you, it doesn't always work that way. It helps to have specific instructions. When G-d lists the ingredients for the Ketoret (Exodus 30:34-36), He neglected to list amounts. There are ingredients and even "cooking" steps (grind, mix, etc.), but no amounts. These were given in what became known as the "Oral Law".

Not to be arrogant (see last week's post about cleaning our souls of arrogance before Pesach), but I will attempt to do something better than G-d (oops, there's the lightning bolt coming to get me): I will give you a recipe with loads of spices and I will put the amounts in writing. And to make it perfect, this recipe will help finish up your legumes before Pesach. Am I great or what?

Spice cabinet lentils:

1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 very large onion, chopped
4 tsp fresh ginger, minced
6-8 garlic cloves, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and diced
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp mustard powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp freshly ground cinnamon
3-4 bay leaves (fresh, if possible)
4 cardamon pods, slightly crushed
2 cups lentils
Approximately 4-5 cups vegetables stock or water
Approximately 1 cups soy milk (or almond milk or just milk)
Salt to taste


1. In a large, wide, heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high heat and saute onion until the edges of the onion pieces start to turn brown.

2. Add garlic and ginger, saute 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.

3. Add next 8 ingredients and stir for 2 minutes.

4. Add lentils. Stir to coat.

5. Add 3 cups stock, 1 cup soy milk, cardamon and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to low, cover and cook until lentils are soft (60-90 minutes). Add liquids as necessary. The liquid in the pot should always look like thin cream and there should be enough of it that the lentils will be just covered at all times. Towards the end of the cooking time, the liquid should be quite thick. You want to end up with a pot of lentils in a thick sauce, not soup.

6. Add salt at the end, to taste.




This makes quite a few servings. 8 or 10 probably.

(note: if you don't have most of the spices listed here, please do not go out and buy them now. Wait until after Pesach. On the whole, though, I strongly recommend keeping a well stocked spice cabinet and using spices way more often than most people tend to do)

Evil plots

Lord Voldemort has nothing on me. My girls (not to mention my students) are fully aware that I am an "Evil Plotter".

While it is true that my "Evil Plans" don't really include world domination (I can barely keep my own house clean; you want me to be in charge of the whole world? Do you realize there are billions of men in the world? and they all leave their dirty socks on the living room floor?), I do plot (evil-ly) to increase people's awareness of just how awesome it is to be Jewish. In what other religion do you get to eat yummy, fattening food as part of the religious observation of each and every holiday? How great is that?


We do take a small break on Tu Bi'Shvat when we eat fruit. Which is sort of healthy. Almost a diet food. And even there, the Yiddishe-Kopp has come up with a solution: dried fruit! Any good dietitian will tell you that dried fruit is more fattening than fresh. Huh. Nailed that one.


To make up for the deprivation of Tu Bi'Shvat, we have Purim. Which is a preliminary to the really fattening holiday -  Pesach.

But today we are talking about evil plotters, which is how Purim started.What do you eat on Purim?

Well, duh, Hammentaschens, right? Naturally. But what else? (Voice from the back row: "What else do you need?"). You see, Purim has 4 mitzvot associated with it (No, one of them is not "get drunk". That's just a bonus). By happy coincidence, they all start with the Hebrew letter 'mem':

1. Megillah - That's the scroll of Esther which everyone must hear (not "read", "hear"). Since you gotta hear the whole Megillah, the reader stops reading when we stomp out Haman's name by making lots of noise, so that no one will miss even one word.


2. Mishloach Manot - These are the bags or platters or baskets (or, once, a diaper (presumably unused) that someone filled with goodies (no pun intended) and delivered to my friend's house. I swear I am not making this up) of yummy things to eat that we send to our friends on Purim. It is based on what happened at the end of the Purim story (see Esther chapter 9 verse 19 and 22). That's the most common place to find Hammentaschens (second most common, in crumbs, all over the house, a month before Pesach. Oy.).


 3. Matanot L'Evyonim - Literally "Gifts for the poor". This is also based on the Megillah (Esther, chapter 9 verse 22). One gives special tzeddaka on Purim (you should give some every day, of course, but this is a specific giving).


 4. Mishteh - a great feast. This is based on the feast(s) that Queen Esther gave in honor of the king, during which she has exposed Haman's plot. The Jews of Shushan had their own feast when they were finally saved (see Esther chapter 9 verse 19 and 22) and thus was born the oldest Jewish joke: A Jewish holiday is defined by "They tried to kill us. We won. Let's eat".


And it is at this feast, this Mishteh, that you need to serve some awesome food (fit for a king, right?). Now, I know you are an amazing cook and your brisket is out of this world and your gefilte fish is better than your mother in law's (certainly true in my case, my MIL never made gefilte fish and would faint at the very idea), but we are here to cook creatively. And in about a month - you'll be gefilte-fishing and brisket-ing again so let's think out of the (Mishloach Manot) box.

Some people say there is yet another "mem" mitzvah associated with Purim: Maseicha - a mask. That is: dressing up in costumes. There are a few explanations for this but the most common one is that the Megillah is the only book in the whole bible where G-d's name does not appear even once. How could it be? Well, here's how:

"Coincidence is when G-d chooses to remain anonymous" 

 G-d, say our sages, is orchestrating the whole story from behind the scenes. He is hidden, as if behind a mask. It is up to us to recognize His hand at the events that unfold before us.


So, how does this relate to the Mishteh menu? Some traditions call for "hidden" foods to be served on Purim. That is, foods that are served inside other foods, or masked as something else.

For example:

Appetizer - Stuffed prunes (Don't faint, this is an elegant, wonderful dish. Recipe below)

Soup course - Kreplach in chicken broth

Main course - Surprise meatballs (meatballs stuffed with dried fruit)
                        Stuffed vegetables (either with meat of vegetarian stuffing)
                         Burekas (potato or mushroom)

Dessert - Hammentaschen are one option but you can utilize the leftover dates from Tu Bi'Shvat. For some reason no one eats those. If you pit them carefully, you can then stuff them with some sort of nut paste (marzipan, or grind almost any kind of nut really fine with some sugar and use that). Decorate with a half or a whole blanched almond and you have a fancy little gem.


To make sure the dinner is a success - require everyone to eat it wearing masks. Advantages: people will be too busy trying to eat through a mask to notice what they are eating and if the dinner turns out only so-so, no one will be able to recognize the culprit.


Merry Purim. (Well, of course it's "merry". Purim is about merry-making, no?)





Stuffed prunes - buy the large juicy ones (Available at Middle Eastern specialty stores), pit them if they are not already pitted (if you soak them for a while in warm water, they will be easier to pit). Brown some ground meat in a little oil, mix with chopped fried onion, chopped walnuts or pine nuts, salt, pepper, cinnamon, turmeric,  ground ginger, ground cardamon (optional). Stuff prunes (carefully, this is delicate work) with about a tablespoonful of the filling. Arrange prunes in a single layer in a saucepan or deep skillet. Carefully pour liquid into pan (equal parts sweet red wine and water) until about half of the way up the prunes (That is - only the lower half of the prunes should be submerged in liquid). Bring to a very gentle boil, lower heat and simmer gently for 30-45 minutes or until prunes are even softer to the touch then when you started. Add more liquid only as necessary. You don't want this to dry out yet you don't want it too watery either. Serve warm with the sauce (the liquid you poured into the pan would be reduced by now and that is the "sauce"). You can substitute balsamic vinegar for the red wine but then use a ratio of one part water to 2 parts vinegar. Do not use white balsamic. This is a dish that needs the "body" of red wine or dark vinegar.
 (Vegetarian version: Eliminate meat. Use an equal amount of either meat substitute or chopped nuts. If you use nuts - I recommend using as many varieties as you have on hand. Chop them all (not too fine) and you can even slightly toast them before mixing into the filling. The rest of the recipe is the same).      


Kreplach (in case you don't have an Ashkenazi Bubbe) - are sort of like tortellinis, made with very thin dough. You can buy them frozen and cook according to package instructions. Or you can make them yourself. I have watched my mother make kreplach and have decided to put as much effort as I can into not learning how to make them.



 Surprise meatballs - these were born one day when I had too much dried fruit, too much ground beef and w-a-y too much time on my hands. Make your regular meatballs but insert a small prune or a dried apricot into each one as you shape it. (Hey, yet another use for leftover dried fruit from Tu Bi'Shvat).Cook as you usually do. Kids don't like these (except my kids when they were little) because they are not "normal", but adults are usually delighted by them.

Preparations

It's that time of the year again. Even those of us who try to leave things for the last minute are getting started on their Pesach cleaning and/or preparations. In about 5 weeks, our homes must be chametz-free. 

(BTW, if you have not started yet, please don't feel bad. I personally know people who start their Pesach work half an hour before the first Seder, and they're the hosts. So you're fine. Really).

This week's parasha talks about the priests. Who are they to be, what will they wear, what sort of stuff will be used on the altar during their dedication as the first ever priests of Hashem. It reads almost as a report in the social pages "What will Aharon wear for the great ceremony? Who got an invite and who is out in the cold? what will be served at the banquet?". 

And, of course, it is that last piece that caught my eye. What does G-d wish for us to put on His altar? Most people know about the animal sacrifice and indeed there are detailed instructions on which animals, how many, which parts of the animal and how to use each part during the sacrifice ceremony. 

But G-d also asks for bread. And here is an interesting thing. Every other sacrifice we are instructed to bring to G-d is usually described as the best that we have. Which makes sense because how else will it be a sacrifice? But the breads that the priests are to bring before G-d are described as flat breads. They are actually called "matzoh". There are 3 types of flour products in this week's parasha: bread, challah and crackers. And the word "matzoh" is used as an adjective for all three. 

Matzoh? G-d wants matzoh as a sacrifice? I don't know about you but giving up matzoh does not sound like a sacrifice to me. What is G-d trying to point out to us here?

Matzoh is the bread of affliction. The bread of poor people who don't have time or money to make their bread rise. On a spiritual level, matzoh is the symbol of being humble, of not being full of yourself, of not putting on airs. Without the yeast to fill it with air and puff it up, matzoh-type bread is humble. It's not pushy or showoff-y or trying always to be the center of attention. Why in the world did G-d choose this kind of bread for His altar?

Maybe because, when one makes such bread, one will have to think about exactly this sort of thing. Like the matzoh bread (and the matzoh challah and matzoh crackers), one will be forced to leave all "airs" behind and approach G-d without arrogance, without self importance, without grandeur. Stripped of our titles and social standing, we approach Him as simple and innocent as children, with only our "basic ingredients".

This week, when you start (Or continue. Or plan.) your Pesach preparations, along with the pieces of chametz, toss out the leavening of your soul. Everything that makes us think too much of ourselves, that makes us impatient with others because we are so important that we "deserve better", that makes us angry or annoyed with our loved ones who "failed to appreciate us". Let us clear these chametz pieces from our souls and from our relationships and let us be humble before G-d and His creation. Let us be like matzoh so we will be worthy of appearing before G-d.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, we start getting rid of physical chametz. Here is a recipe for Israeli style pita-bread that will help speed the process by using up not only flour but yeast, as well. And, just to tie it in to the parasha some more, this is so delicious simply dipped in olive oil, the kind mentioned at the very beginning of the parasha.

Best pita ever

1 Tablespoonful dry yeast
1 Tbs sugar
4 cups less one tablespoon flour
1 1/2  less one tablespoon warm water
2 tsp salt


1. Dissolve sugar in half a cup of the water. Sprinkle yeast and let rise for 10-15 minutes. Yeast should foam.

2. In a mixer, mix flour, the rest of the water and the yeast for one minute.

3. Add salt. Knead 5 minutes until a soft, smooth, non-sticky dough forms (you can add a little more flour or water if necessary).

4. Cover with plastic wrap, then with towel. Let rise for an hour in a warm place. (I wrap mine in an electric blanket set at its lowest setting).

5. Heat oven to 530F (this is not a typo - five hundred and thirty degrees!) and place oven rack at lowest possible position in the oven (closest to the oven's floor, but not actually on it).

6. Punch dough down. Divide into 10 balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball to a circle a quarter of an inch thick about the size and shape of an average pita (sort of like a small thick tortilla).

7. Place pita circles on a baking sheet lined with baking paper (or with aluminum foil sprinkled generously with cornmeal). Cover loosely with a moist paper towel, then with a kitchen towel and let rest for 10 minutes.

8. Bake pitas for 5 minutes. Some will puff up, some won't. It's OK. See discussion above about being filled with hot air.

9. Remove pitas from oven and immediately place in a large pot and cover tightly with the pot's lid. Leave them there for 5 minutes. Finish cooling on racks (otherwise the bottom side will turn soggy).


Makes 10 pitas


Note: These pitas freeze well, if we're not just before Pesach, when the point is to get rid of them. Defrost in microwave. They might dry out if defrosted on counter top or in fridge.

Serve with olive oil for dipping, chummus, baba ganoush, or anything you like.